Happy birthday to actor of actors Om Puri.

Happy birthday to actor of actors Om Puri.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to actor of actors Om Puri on 18th October, 2010. Om Puri, along with Naseeruddin Shah used to be considered and is still considered the most versatile actor of all times. Born on 18th October, 1950, Om Puri learned acting from Film and Television Institute of India. He was an alumnus of 1973 batch of Delhi School of Drama along with Naseeruddin Shah.

He was the automatic choice of the greatest directors of Indian films like Satyajit Ray who did cast him in Sadgati, Govind Nihalini who had cast him in Aakrosh, Ardha Satya, etc., Ketan Mehta who had cast him in Mirch Masala, Gulzar, who had cast him in Maachis, to name a few.

But when question came in relation to awards, critics feel that Om Puri, did not receive the recognition he deserved. He received national awards for best actor for his performance in the films Arohan and Ardhya Satya. But there is no justification as to the fact why did not receive a national award for his lifetime performance in the film Aakrosh. He did not have a single dialogue, and in a mute role, he expressed his agony, which was at par with some of the best Hollywood actors of all times.

His performance in Satyajit Ray’s film Sadgati requires special mention. He died at the end of the film while cutting wood for cremation purposes for Mohan Agase in the film. He made the classic literature of Munshi Premchand immortal with his performance. He was sublime in Mirch Masala. He was outstanding in Tamas.

Although he won a number of international awards, that does not justify his immense acting skills. He won the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Award for his performance in the film Ardhya Satya in 1984. He won Brussels International Best Film Actor award in 1998 for his performance in the film My Son the fanatic.

Even his performance in commercial films like Ghayal or Gupt or China Gate requires special mention. In the last 10 years he had featured in every alternate films including Gulzar’s Maachis, Priya Darshaan’s Malamaal Weekly, Raj Kumar Santoshi’s Pukar, Sohail Khan’s Dabaang. His performance in small roles in landmark films like Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi.

The viewers and critics feel that Om Puri should continue his brilliant work irrespective of adequate justice being done through the awards, because his actual admirer are the immense number of viewers who had always considered him a genius of genius.

Om Puri and awards.

Om Puri and awards.

Om Puri, along with Naseeruddin Shah used to be considered and is still considered the most versatile actor of all times. Born on 18th October, 1950, Om Puri learned acting from Film and Television Institute of India. He was an alumnus of 1973 batch of Delhi School of Drama along with Naseeruddin Shah.

He was the automatic choice of the greatest directors of Indian films like Satyajit Ray who did cast him in Sadgati, Govind Nihalini who had cast him in Aakrosh, Ardha Satya, etc., Ketan Mehta who had cast him in Mirch Masala, Gulzar, who had cast him in Maachis, to name a few.

But when question came in relation to awards, critics feel that Om Puri, did not receive the recognition he deserved. He received national awards for best actor for his performance in the films Arohan and Ardhya Satya. But there is no justification as to the fact why did not receive a national award for his lifetime performance in the film Aakrosh. He did not have a single dialogue, and in a mute role, he expressed his agony, which was at par with some of the best Hollywood actors of all times.

His performance in Satyajit Ray’s film Sadgati requires special mention. He died at the end of the film while cutting wood for cremation purposes for Mohan Agase in the film. He made the classic literature of Munshi Premchand immortal with his performance. He was sublime in Mirch Masala. He was outstanding in Tamas.

Although he won a number of international awards, that does not justify his immense acting skills. He won the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Award for his performance in the film Ardhya Satya in 1984. He won Brussels International Best Film Actor award in 1998 for his performance in the film My Son the fanatic.

Even his performance in commercial films like Ghayal or Gupt or China Gate requires special mention. His performance in small roles in landmark films like Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi.

The viewers and critics feel that Om Puri should continue his brilliant work irrespective of adequate justice being done through the awards, because his actual admirer are the immense number of viewers who had always considered him a genius of genius.

Happy birthday to Om Puri.

Happy birthday to Om Puri.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Om Puri on 18th October, 2009. Om Puri had been considered to be one of the greatest actors of Indian cinema by critics, eminent directors, international film journalists, etc.

Oscar winning director Satyajit Ray experimented with Om Puri in the film Satgati in the early 80s. Om Puri played the role of a cremator who was employed by the zamindar played by Mohan Agasi to cremate a dead body in a village in North India. Om Puri died at the end of the film as he worked with extreme bad health. Om Puri’s expression relating to pain and misery expressed the exploitation of lower strata of the society in North Indian villages as written by Munshi Premchand.

Om Puri became the automatic choice of renowned directors like Shyam Benegal, Govind Nihalini, Sai Paranchpe, Sudhir Mishra, and many other directors who enriched parallel cinema in India. The range of roles of Om Puri included the role of a villager in the film Aakrosh whose tongues were cut to prevent him from speaking, the role of a poor person who donated his eyes in the film Chokh, the role of a police officer who found corruption at every level of the police force in the film Ardha Satya.

Amongst the different directors Govind Nihalini probably made the best use of Om Puri. The performance of Om Puri in the film Tamas in the role of a victim of partition of 1947 requires special mention. The film created controversy as it was related to hindu-muslim riots and when it was featured in TV, its transmission was stopped for certain period of time.

Om Puri made very valuable contribution in commercial films over the last 20 years. His successful films included Ghayal opposite Sunny Deol, Krishna opposite Sunil Shetty, China Gate opposite Naseeruddin Shah, Gupt opposite Bobby Deol, Malamaal Weekly opposite Paresh Rawal, Raat, etc. It is difficult to mention the national and international awards won by Om Puri in his illustrious career in a small article.

The viewers expect him to continue the great work in the years to come.

Govind Nihalini and realistic films.

Govind Nihalini and realistic films.

Govind Nihalini carried forward the strong film-making culture of Shyam Benegal, one of the leading story-tellers of the country. He worked with him as an assistant in the beginning but later on developed his own style of direction. He amazed the viewers with the creation of the film Aakrosh.

It was related to a tribal subject-matter where Om Puri worked in a mill in a backward village. His wife played by Smita Patil was ill-treated and killed by the employers of the factory and the allegation was made on Om Puri. His tongue was also cut so that he could not speak.

Nasiruddin Shah took up the case but he could not get any support from anyone. In fact he was threatened at times that if he continued with the case he would have been killed. His senior counsel played by Amrish Puri was also involved in the murder.


Om Puri was released on parole to attend the cremation ceremony of his relatives and he killed his sister to prevent her from being killed by the employers. The performance of Om Puri was excellent and the film bagged many awards in the early 80s.

After the success of Akrosh, Govind Nihalini experimented with bold subjects like the one in Ardha Satya. Om Puri played the role of an honest police officer and faced the challenges of internal politics within the police department.

He created Tamas, which was on the problems of partition when India attained independence. Om Puri came with his family from Pakistan to India and faced riot situations in the state of Punjab. He was a menial worker and thought the riot did break out for his overt act.


There were other notable films like Drohkaal, which were based on subjects relating to violence in the country and the film was well appreciated by critics.

Sometimes critics had argued that Govind Nihalini had shown too much of violence in his films but he had justified them by saying that he had shown the truth and went into details of the story. Modern directors can learn a lot from the realistic works of Govind Nihalini.